§ 3. Mr. Keyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the strength of the Civil Defence Corps and of the Auxiliary Fire Service in England and Wales on 31st May.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Geoffrey de Freitas)The figures are 143,000 and 10,100 respectively. I will circulate the detailed figures in HANSARD.
§ Mr. H. HyndDoes that represent a satisfactory improvement?
§ Mr. de FreitasIt is a steady improvement, but of course my right hon. Friend is not satisfied.
§ Mr. Geoffrey LloydAm I right in saying that recruitment in the rescue and pioneer sections is particularly unsatisfactory? Is the hon. Gentleman taking any special action to improve this position?
§ Mr. de FreitasIt is particularly unsatisfactory in those sections. We are looking into that matter.
§ Brigadier Prior-PalmerHow far does the number fall short of the number required?
§ Mr. de FreitasIt is between one-third and one-quarter of what we want.
§ Following are the figures:
| CIVIL DEFENCE CORPS | |||
| Region | Increase during May, 1951 | Total Strength at 31st May, 1951 | Strength per thousand of population |
| Eastern | 713 | 16,730 | 5.45 |
| Southern | 495 | 13,849 | 5.23 |
| South-Western | 1,090 | 14,873 | 4.94 |
| South-Eastern | 409 | 11,065 | 4.32 |
| Northern | 546 | 10,410 | 3.31 |
| Midland | 571 | 13,136 | 2.97 |
| Wales | 220 | 7,525 | 2.90 |
| North-Western | 542 | 18,001 | 2.82 |
| North Midland | 293 | 9,416 | 2.73 |
| London | 656 | 19,740 | 2.34 |
| North-Easten | 262 | 8,448 | 2.05 |
| 5,797 | 143,193 | Average for England & Wales 3.26 |
| AUXILIARY FIRE SERVICE | |
| Increse during May. 1951 | Total at 31st May,1951 |
| 208 | 10,072 |
§ 12. Sir Ian Fraserasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what 678 progress is being made in recruiting for Civil Defence.
§ Mr. de FreitasThe strength of the Civil Defence Corps in England and Wales was doubled in the last seven months. It is now 143,000 which is just over three per thousand of the population.
§ Sir I. FraserHow far does that fall below the minimum necessary for safety?
§ Mr. de FreitasAs I said in reply to an earlier supplementary question, the provisional peace-time strength is between three and four times as high as that.
§ Brigadier HeadAre not the main obstacles to Civil Defence recruiting at the present time the absence of an age ceiling for liability to recall to the Services and the absence of a decision about recruitment to the Home Guard?
§ Mr. de FreitasI do not agree with that. The subject has been dealt with on more than one occasion by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence and others, from this Box.
§ 16. Squadron Leader Kinghornasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recruits for Civil Defence have been enrolled during the last six months in East Anglia.
§ Mr. de FreitasIn the Eastern Region 7,100, half of whom are in East Anglia proper, that is, Norfolk and Suffolk.
§ Squadron Leader KinghornIn view of the gratifying results which we naturally expect from East Anglia, would my hon. Friend say how those figures compare with the overall figures for the rest of the country?
§ Mr. de FreitasThe Eastern Region as a whole is top of the regions, but there is still room for an increase, especially in certain sections of the Corps.